STOP FEEDING HORSES THAT ARE NOT YOURS

[Pineapplechickenpizza]

Unbelievable that this is still a problem after all the hype on social media and the news but unfortunately it is.

Why do people think it’s acceptable to feed an animal that isn’t there’s? I don’t care if it’s an apple or carrot or just a few blades of grass. They’re not your horses- DONT FEED THEM ANYTHING.

If you feed horses in fields that are not yours, honestly, why do you do it?? Do you realise how your ignorance could make someones horse unwell?

Dreading summer holidays when more people are out for walks and think it’s acceptable to feed the horses in the fields

Are you happy to accept liability for your actions if said horse bites you or kicks you whilst you’re petting them?

plus most horses will give up if you ignore them, abs in the majority of cases the rain said horse is having you would be to try and mug you for treats rather than anything else.

That's good to see, and many of us appreciate the work you do. Its just a shame many of the horse owners in the country tear down hedgerows, remove ponds and convert meadows and land into a green mono culture pasture with zero benefit to wildlife or bio diversity.

Many churn up paths, and destroy natural habitats to build huge areas to keep their precious horses for leisure use and entertainment and yet claim city people don't understand the country side, what a joke.

Id love to know how many are offsetting or applying biodiversity net gain to there plots of land and buildings for their horses and hobbies.

@Grumpsy

Are you happy to accept liability for your actions if said horse bites you or kicks you whilst you’re petting them?

plus most horses will give up if you ignore them, abs in the majority of cases the rain said horse is having you would be to try and mug you for treats rather than anything else.

I am walking through a field and the horse is repeatedly nudging me and pushing me. I have to stop as I am unsteady on my feet. If a horse cannot be trusted with the public is should not be in a field where the public can get to it and it to them.

Quite possibly the horse has acquired this bad habit from strangers feeding it and has come to expect everyone to feed it.
Not your fault, of course, but an illustration of how undesirable it is to feed other people's horses.

This started as a thread about why it’s not acceptable to feed other peoples horses. Yet some people think they’re entitled to because their children don’t get any experience with horses, or because the horse is daring to stand in its own private field and therefore anyone passing has the right to feed it.

if you want a horse to feed because you like spending time with horses or because you want your children to have time with horses then cough up and buy a horse yourself. And if you want one but can’t afford one then you absolutely cannot afford the vets bills you’ll be left with after feeding and hurting someone else’s.

And before anyone jumps on the posh narrative that this is a typical snobby horse owner post, it’s not. We’d all like things we can’t afford and that’s normal. But you can’t then assume the right to interact (and feed!) other peoples horses.

And yeah I still believe it’s entitled. Whatever the horse is being fed; grass, treats, apples. Whether the person believes it’s good for horses or not. It’s irrelevant. It absolutely is entitled to think you have the right to feed someone else’s animal ANYTHING and it’s frankly embarrassing that some posters are insisting horse owners are rude for thinking this. Why do adults need to be told that it’s not acceptable to feed someone else’s animal? Is it really such a stretch to think this would be basic manners?

And I agree with some posters that if my horse was in a field with a shared path, I would expect it to get some pets and cuddles from passersby. I’m not saying that’s particularly unreasonable (although of course is down to the individual horse owner and passerby as to whether they want to pet them or not) and ultimately if a horse is nudging then it’s hard to ignore, but if you stop and actively pet it then you’ll just encourage it to come over again which isn’t ideal if you don’t want to pet it

But plenty of posters were saying that if a horse is at the side of a fence, they will go over and pet it because it’s there at the side or the fence. That’s the confusing part. Nobody is making you, you don’t have to, the horse isn’t making you. You could leave it alone and walk away, but you choose to go over and pet it. Why can you not just choose to admire from a distance and leave it alone?

I'm still waiting to find out where all the media hype and news about not feeding horses is.

Whilst it’s not your fault this behaviour has come from people feeding them in the field. As such they see all people as walking food dispensers and will bug them accordingly.

ironically people acting like walking food dispensers makes horses more prone to nipping and biting. A horse who isn’t hand fed (not saying by you) would probably just ignore you.

I’ve walked my dog through fields with rights of way with horses in before, I usually just tell them to shoo and go back to their grass as to not encourage them bugging people for food.

luckily my horse is kept far away from right of way, and if you didn’t know there was a livery yard there you’d have no clue there were horses there. I don’t tolerate horses with bad manners, it’s dangerous. And this is why I keep her far away from people, so she can’t learn that being rude gets a reward.

unfortunately not every livery yard is in a position where the general public can’t get to them, and I have known people to trespass on private property to stroke the pretty pony. I’ve all known people try and stroke to pony only to realise it’s a sadistic bugger who likes nothing more than to bite anyone silly enough to approach it. Despite signs of don’t touch, I bite (not my horse might I add)

@TheOrigRights

I'm still waiting to find out where all the media hype and news about not feeding horses is.

Yeah. I have to say I've never seen a single thing on social media or the news about feeding horses. And there are certainly no signs anywhere.

The only thing I see on SM is to pick dog shit up and not hang it from trees in bags as it kills horses. Nothing else.

Here’s a few:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55888872.amp

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/lockdown-walkers-warned-after-horse-19904684.amp

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/country-and-farming/yorkshire-police-issue-do-not-feed-horses-warning-to-walkers-3291813?amp

Also this from the countryside code:

ZerotwoZero
I will list some things I do to help biodiversity if you like.
The only plants I remove are poisonous ones, everything else can stay. This means we have huge flocks of goldfinches feeding on the knapweed seeds in the autumn. We have butterflies and bees feeding on clover. The field is heaving with beetles and worms and frogs (also moles which I don't much care for but I leave them alone).
Far from ripping out hedges I maintain mine so they are a) a good windbreak and b) suitable for many animals & birds to use as a home.
I don't use fertiliser or chemical weed control.
I leave part of the field unused for most of the year, to let plant growth happen. There are many varieties of wild flower which grow in this field.
Manure is heaped in an open access area and my neighbours can take as much as they want, to use in their gardens, this reduces the need for manufactured garden fertiliser, and also improves the soil.

In part I do all of this because I don't own a tractor, and don't have the money for fertilisers etc. But even if I did have money for that kind of thing I would still carry on as I am because I live on this planet too and don't want to stuff it up. Also the hard labour keeps me fit!

People also need to watch their dogs around horses. The horses I had growing up managed to kill two dogs between them.

As I previously said thetemptationofchocolate, i really do appreciate people like yourself and horses and ponies do have valuable parts to play in wildlife management and maintenance of habitats and can add to the biodiversity of the area and I applaud you for the work you do.

But there are also keepers who seem to think they are adding to the value of the countryside and take a high and mighty approach to others jus because they keep horses. But when you look at the ecological value they are adding to the countryside they are infact destroying it and have a very negative impact to the biodiversity of our landscape. So scalding others as not knowing about the countryside makes them quite huge hypocrites, when they bang on about others feeding their horse on the basis they don't understand the countryside and so should educate themselves.

@Scianel why anyone would have a loose dog around a 500kg animal is beyond my comprehension, years ago my mare has threatened to kick someone’s loose dog with no recall whilst I was hacking, on private land with no right of for walkers might I add, because it was threatening to bite her legs. If she had of kicked it it would be dead, said dog was extremely lucky that its owners managed to single catch it and drag it away. That dog owner managed to put me, my horse and their dog at risk.

*right of way

[quote Grumpsy]Here’s a few:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55888872.amp

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/lockdown-walkers-warned-after-horse-19904684.amp

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/country-and-farming/yorkshire-police-issue-do-not-feed-horses-warning-to-walkers-3291813?amp[/quote]I don't live in Wales or Yorkshire

@Grumpsy totally. In one case it was actually our little Maltese, tragic accident where someone left the wrong door open and the dogs got out and chased one of the horses, the horse ran and the hoof hit her little head a glancing blow. It was really traumatic and I have no idea why anyone would put their dog in that position deliberately.

The other time I was out riding and someone had two large aggressive dogs and an open gate, and I'm just grateful my horse had the presence of mind to kick them rather than bolt. When the guy turned up to demand compensation from my dad he laughed in his face.

Lol at this…horses NEED fields. You as a human don’t NEED to walk through a field. If it’s a choice between humans or horses, then you as the human should leave.

STOP SHOUTING AT ME FOR SOMETHING I DONT DO! Honestly… first world problems of the over-privileged. Put a sign up politely asking people not to

Those were a couple of examples I found in 2 minutes. The story was covered on bbc news (tv) about not feeding horses during lockdown. It’s been all over social media during lockdown - although I may be more likely to see such things seeing as I am a horsey person.

either way, when in the countryside you should follow the countryside code. If you previously didn’t know it existed, well you do now, so should follow it from now on. The countryside code should be taught to children in school.

@TheOriginalEmu

Lol at this…horses NEED fields. You as a human don’t NEED to walk through a field. If it’s a choice between humans or horses, then you as the human should leave.

If it's the only way to walk to somewhere people need to walk through. There are lots of places that you NEED to walk through the RIGHT of way or you'd be walking on dangerous roads for miles.

@Grumpsy

Those were a couple of examples I found in 2 minutes. The story was covered on bbc news (tv) about not feeding horses during lockdown. It’s been all over social media during lockdown - although I may be more likely to see such things seeing as I am a horsey person.

either way, when in the countryside you should follow the countryside code. If you previously didn’t know it existed, well you do now, so should follow it from now on. The countryside code should be taught to children in school.

It's not been on my TV or my social media though.

It should be yes, but it isn't.

Ah, yes. I’ll just tell my horse he’s not allowed to stand on the path that goes through HIS HOME.

Jesus wept.

I don’t blame your dad, I’d have told them where to go if my horse kicked their dog and was killed as a result. it’s for this reason always hack with a long schooling whip now, although in reality it wouldn’t make any difference having one or not.